Since 1982, Quantum Design has been providing lab-ready scientific instruments to colleges, universities, government and corporate laboratories around the world. Instruments include the DynaCool® Physical Property Measurement System (PPMS), the MPMS3® SQUID Magnetometer and VersaLab® Physics Education System. The OptiCool® is a large volume, low vibration, low temperature and high magnetic field cryogen-free environment for magneto-optical investigations. The FusionScope® is a correlative microscopy system for scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM) and elemental imaging of materials. These instruments are made in the US and were designed and developed by Quantum Design’s engineering team in San Diego, Calif. 

The MPMS3® SQUID Magnetometer is Quantum Design’s flagship instrument for magnetic measurement. This is the highest sensitivity, commercial magnetometer with thousands of installations around the world. The DynaCool® and VersaLab® systems have over 20 experimental measurement options. These options allow researchers to quickly measure the electrical, magnetic, thermal and optical properties of materials. Figure 1 shows the instruments produced by Quantum Design. Many new materials have been analyzed in Quantum Design systems including superconductors, quantum magnets, thermoelectrics, magneto-caloric, two-dimensional and many other material classes. 

Quantum Design’s precision measurement systems allow researchers to test the quantum limit. The quantum limit is the crossover when classical mechanics can no longer describe the behavior of a material and the quantum mechanics behavior of the electron dominates the effect.  An example of this is illustrated in Figure 2, with data collected using the PPMS dilatometer measurement option.  This ultrasensitive ratiometric capacitive measurement provides picometer resolution of the thermal expansion of material. The example shows the magnetostriction of aluminum at 2 K. The oscillation of the thermal expansion of the aluminum at low temperature and changing applied magnetic field is quantum mechanical in nature and is described as the De Haas-van Alphen effect. Another example of the quantum limit is the Quantum Hall effect, shown in Figure 3, showing field-dependent transverse and longitudinal transport measurements for a GaAs 2-D electron gas system at 2 K with 1 μA sourced excitation current in the van der Pauw geometry. This measurement was performed in the PPMS DynaCool® coupled with the Lake Shore Cryotronics M91 FastHall™ measurement system. The M91 Fast Hall system provides researchers with the ability to make rapid measurements and calculate the Hall and mobility parameters of samples. Plateaus in the transverse channel demonstrate the integer quantum Hall effect and correspond to where the Fermi level falls in an area of localized states between neighboring Landau levels. (Sample provided by Dr. M. Pendharkar, Chris Palmstrøm Group, University of California, Santa Barbara). 

Recently, Quantum Design has further expanded its measurement platforms to include the OptiCool® and FusionScope®. The OptiCool® provides a large volume, cryogen-free, ultralow vibration cryostat that combines low temperatures (1.7 K), high magnetic fields (±7 T) and ample optical access from eight optical windows along multiple axes. The addition of easy nanopositioner integration, multiple window and fiber feedthrough options, internal objective mounting hardware, and rapid temperature stage results in a highly versatile platform that allows for experiments that would be impossible in other cryostats. The ultralow vibrations further enable cryogenic high-magnetic field microscopy studies. The FusionScope® is a correlative microscopy platform that combines the complementary strengths of AFM, SEM and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS). Seamlessly image your sample, identify areas of interest, measure your sample and combine your imaging data in real time. Quantum Design’s microscopy offerings have now allowed the company to take materials characterization from the bulk to the nanoscale.  

Quantum Design instruments are found in the world’s leading research institutions and have become the reference standard for a variety of magnetic and physical property measurements. Quantum Design instruments are cited in and provide the data for more scientific publications than any other instrument in the fields of magnetics and materials characterization. This means that each year, hundreds of scientific publications, advancing the science of materials, use data generated from Quantum Design instruments. 

In addition to Quantum Design’s efforts in building precision scientific instrumentation, the company is also active in improving hands-on experimental learning for STEM students. Quantum Design launched The Discovery Lab Initiative, which seeks to partner colleges and universities with leading technology companies to develop new curricula emphasizing hands-on experiential learning. By introducing industry-standard research instruments, students are inspired to “take theory into practice,” thereby better training themselves to be successful in the next stage of their scientific careers. Quantum Design created Discovery Teaching Labs to promote this collaborative effort between industry and academics. discoveryteachinglabs.com, www.qdusa.com

Images and Figures: 

Figure 1: This collage shows the instruments produced by Quantum Design. Many new materials have been analyzed in Quantum Design systems including superconductors, quantum magnets, thermoelectrics, magneto-caloric, two-dimensional and many other material classes. Credit: Quantum Design 

FIGURE 2: Quantum Design’s precision measurement systems allow researchers to test the quantum limit. The quantum limit is the crossover when classical mechanics can no longer describe the behavior of a material and the quantum mechanics behavior of the electron dominates the effect. Credit: Quantum Design 

FIGURE 3: This figure shows field-dependent transverse and longitudinal transport measurements for a GaAs 2-D electron gas system at 2 K with 1 μA sourced excitation current in the van der Pauw geometry. Credit: Quantum Design